135: Hulk

"Why are you in such a hurry? I'll definitely teach you," Lyon waved them off casually. 

"Wait, wait, Lyon—Honored Lyon, at least tell us what kind of magic it is!" Wong asked eagerly. 

Wong had become good friends with Lyon during his time at Kamar-Taj. Since Wong was a quirky guy with no filters, they both got along well, Wong had never formally referred to Lyon as the Sorcerer Supreme in private—until now, in his excitement, the respectful title slipped out. 

Lyon paused mid-step. "Even if I told you now, you wouldn't be able to learn it!" 

"First, you and Mordo should organize the Sanctum's affairs for the coming months." 

"This time, your magic training will likely take you away for a few months." 

Although the primary purpose of the duel with Asgard was to train and temper the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, helping them gradually adapt to proactive combat and preparing them for future incursions into dimensional realms, Lyon knew one thing for certain: 

If they could win, they absolutely would. 

Lyon initially planned to lend his internal world's power to the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.

However, after a simple experiment, he realized that his internal world was still too immature. Its energy transmission range was too narrow, and its efficiency was low.

He figured this issue wouldn't be resolved until he advanced to the realm of a World Lord, or perhaps even to the level of an Immortal, fully transforming into a true dimensional demon god.

So, Lyon turned to a second approach:

Introducing new types of magic into the Kamar-Taj magical system.

Since he was now the Sorcerer Supreme, he felt it was only fitting to bring something unique to the table.

Lyon remembered that Marvel had its own witchcraft system.

Those witches, like Agatha, could draw power not only from nature but also from their own internal reserves of energy.

This reminded Lyon of the wizarding system in the Harry Potter universe.

However, such early-stage magical systems weren't particularly useful to him anymore.

At most, they could serve to enrich the magical knowledge of Kamar-Taj.

Moreover, Lyon wasn't like the Ancient One, who could stay at Kamar-Taj all day, carefully mentoring the sorcerers.

So Lyon decided to send Wong and Mordo to Hogwarts.

The plan was for them to return with knowledge of spells like Avada Kedavra and teach those techniques to the other sorcerers.

Particularly, the spell Expelliarmus was a must-learn.

That spell would work wonders against Asgard.

The strength of those Asgardian brutes lies mostly in their weapons.

As long as the sorcerers cast Expelliarmus during battle, they'd already have won half the fight on the spot.

However, the trip to Hogwarts would have to wait a few days.

For now, all the affairs of Kamar-Taj were in the hands of Wong and Mordo.

The two of them would need some time to organize the operations of the Sanctum.

...

"Months? Don't tell me you're planning to go to Asgard for advanced training, to defeat them with their own magic?" Wong and Mordo exchanged incredulous looks.

"That's actually a pretty good idea. Once you win, you can bring it up to Odin—have him send you over as exchange students for a year or so," Lyon joked.

With a casual motion, he drew a circle and opened a portal with the Mystic Gate.

"Take care of Kamar-Taj's routine affairs as soon as you can. I'm heading home for a few days. Call me when you're ready," Lyon said.

With that, he stepped through the portal and disappeared on the other side.

Wong scratched the back of his head. "By the way, what does he mean by calling him on the phone?"

"I don't know… but wasn't there a green giant monster on the other side of that portal? The one Lyon showed us earlier?" Mordo took a sharp breath.

"It seemed like it… could it be that Lyon has already gone to recruit reinforcements?"

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the shock in the other's eyes.

"How are we supposed to fight against a terrifying monster like that?"

"We can't waste any time! We need to wrap up our tasks quickly, or Lyon might gather all the participants before we're even ready!"

The two of them immediately bolted to their respective workstations, planning to pull an all-nighter to get everything in order.

Meanwhile…

"Thanks for the warm welcome!"

Lyon had just closed the portal when he heard a rushing wind. Turning around, he saw a massive fist hurtling straight for his face.

Boom!

He casually raised a hand, grabbed the fist mid-air, and then, with a lift and a slam, sent the owner of the fist crashing into the ground.

"Is this New York? Wasn't the portal supposed to open near Tony? And this is… Hulk?"

Lyon glanced around, taking in the shattered streets and the fleeing crowds.

Wait, no—those weren't ordinary people fleeing. They were civilians being carried over the shoulders of a squad of agents in black uniforms, retreating from the scene. 

And from the street corner came a towering black giant, several meters tall. 

It only needed two steps to reach Lyon. 

Of course, that was Tony. 

It seemed he had updated his armor yet again. 

Damn..

The black giant's wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, and ankles were outfitted with glowing blue rings, which looked like they were integrated with his fungal-based armor. The rings seemed to be providing additional energy to the suit. 

What was this? Mark 8? Lyon wondered to himself. 

"ROOOOOAR!!" 

Suddenly, the Hulk, who had been slammed into the ground, let out an enraged roar. 

He brushed off the debris covering him and swiped a massive hand toward Lyon. 

"Big guy, I really wouldn't recommend doing that," Lyon said calmly. 

With a gentle motion, he grasped the Hulk's thumb and stopped the giant hand in its tracks. 

"About 1,300 tons of grip strength. Is this a rage state? No, wait—Tony, what on Earth did you guys do to him?" 

As Lyon spoke, he flicked his wrist, skillfully using leverage to fling Hulk back into the ground.

Without pausing, he raised his hand, threw Hulk again, lifted him, and slammed him down a few more times.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! 

After several hard slams, Hulk's roars only grew louder, and his anger surged.

Lyon seemed thoughtful.

"Single-arm strength is already over 2,000 tons now. At this stage, Hulk doesn't have much intelligence, so he doesn't even feel fear. He just keeps getting stronger?"

By the time of Avengers: Infinity War, after spending time on Sakaar and interacting with others, Hulk had developed a greater level of intelligence, along with the capacity for fear. That was why Thanos' relentless combo left him with such deep psychological trauma.

But the current Hulk had only recently been born.

His intelligence wasn't much better than that of a wild beast.

Unless he was genuinely beaten into submission, deeply and painfully, it was unlikely he'd calm down.

"Sorry about this. Hopefully, what's about to happen won't leave too much of a scar on your young mind," Lyon said, suddenly pulling Hulk toward him.

Amid Hulk's furious roars, Lyon pinned him by the shoulders and began delivering a rapid series of punches to the right side of his jaw. 

1 punch! 2 punches! 3! 4! 5....

Lyon's fists moved so quickly they left afterimages. 

And yet, each punch's force was meticulously controlled—precisely 10,000 tons of impact. 

Combined with his incredible speed, every strike hit like a missile slamming into its target. 

Within two seconds, Hulk's head, battered to its limit, rendered him unconscious. 

As Lyon released him, the giant collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud and slowly transformed back into Bruce Banner. 

"Lyon? Lyon, you're back!" 

Tony Stark finally opened his helmet.

He covered an entire street in just two steps, but even that was enough time for Lyon to completely take down Hulk. 

"Wait, what did you do?" Tony hadn't even had a chance to express his joy at seeing Lyon again before noticing the unconscious Banner on the ground. 

"You've only just returned, and you've already defeated him? I was hoping to spar with him a bit and exchange some combat techniques." 

Lyon lifted Banner off the ground. "I should be asking you what you were doing. How did you manage to get Hulk this angry?" 

Lyon glanced around the scene. "And look at this mess! As the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is this what you're protecting?"

"You knew that was Hulk?" Tony glanced around as well. "Relax. All the damages here will be covered by your superhero company. We've already informed the authorities in advance. Honestly, some of these people are hoping Hulk smashes more cars so they can upgrade to new ones."

"Oh, and just to clarify—not S.H.I.E.L.D. Director. Director of the Avengers Initiative," Tony added.

"Director of whatever—it doesn't matter. But just this street alone looks like it'll cost over a billion dollars in damages. Is the company that rich now?" Lyon asked, curious.

"Of course it is! Your superhero merchandise and my Iron Man merchandise are selling out globally. The movies are also smashing box office records. Revenue-wise, we're absolutely the monthly champions," Tony replied smugly.

"Wait, wait… movies? What movies? And about this whole Hulk situation, you'd better explain what's happened over the past few days!" Lyon demanded, looking increasingly baffled.

Just last night, during his global psychic scan, Tony had been sound asleep at home.

How had a single day turned into a Godzilla vs. King Kong showdown on the streets of New York?

_________

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